UFC
UFC NEWS: Machida vs. Shogun II eyed for May 1st event in Montreal
Nov 18, 2009 - 9:57:12 PM UFC NEWS: Machida vs. Shogun II eyed for May 1st event in Montreal

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship will once again be contested between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on May 1st in Montreal, according to a post by Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel on his Twitter account, quoting UFC President Dana White.

The bout will be a rematch from the controversial UFC 104 main event, where Machida held onto the Title with a unanimous decision despite a widespread belief that Shogun had won at least three rounds of the contest.

It had been the first time that Machida had lost a round in his entire career, but he stayed undefeated and retained his belt. With the controversial nature of the decision White stated after the bout that "Shogun" would get an immediate rematch. They had hoped to put that bout together for the January 2nd UFC 108 event, though Machida required surgery on his hand and could not make that date.

The May 1st event has not been officially announced by the UFC as of yet.

Penick's Analysis: Like I've said on other occasions this week, the rash of injuries and illnesses ravaging the UFC's fall and winter schedule has to be looked at as a possible boon for their spring and summer 2010 schedule if they don't want to drive themselves insane. This rematch becomes one of those great things for a spring card as this fight is going to be much bigger than their first encounter. No one doubts Shogun as a challenger and everyone wants to see if Machida's less than spectacular performance at UFC 104 was frustration due to Shogun's excellent gameplan or simply an off night for "The Dragon." The fans in Montreal should be in for a treat with this one.

[Machida art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]